Key-opening can



(No Moae1.\

i Al Fl KEY OPENING CAN.

Patented July 7 UNITED Sintes Fnrnrv'r @ionica ALBERT F. REMY, OFlllAiNSFlEL-D, OHl'O.

KEY-OPENING CAN.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,686, dated July *7,1896.

Application filed July 16, 1895. Serial No. 556,145. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, .it may concern.-

Be itknown that l, ALBERT F. REMY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mans- `field, in the county of Richland and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Key-pening Cans;and I.

do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to improvements in key-opening cans and packages ofthat class which employ a ripping-wire to cut through or sever thecan-head, so that the head may be quickly and easily removed from thecanbody for the purpose of obtaining access to the contents of the canor package.

In this class of devices it is desirable that the can or package shallclosely resemble the ordinary can or package so extensively used for thecommercial package and storage of fruits, vegetables, dsc. that theripping-wire shall be compactly arranged, so as not to appreciablyincrease the size of the can or package in order to accommodate theWire; that the can head or body be not weakened or its strength iinparedin any Way in order to provide for the reception of the Wire or to makethe can body or head responsive to the action of the ripping-Wire; to sodispose the parts that practically the entire head may be ripped ott thepackage or can, and practicallyv Without leaving rough edges, to permitthe entire contents 'of the can to be emptied instantly on inversion ofthe can, and to manufacture the can with economy and speed. Theseobjects are obtained in a highly satisfactory degree by the constructiondevised and invented by ine, which contemplates the formation of thehead with a shallow bead and groove arranged near the edge of the head,and adapted to receive the upper edge of the can-body, in combinationwith a ripping-Wire tted in the groove between the edge of the can-bodyand the bead or Wall of said groove, one end of said ripping-wire havinga hook which is held in a recess or slot on the underside of the headand the other end of said Wire being free and protruding from the can,to enable it 'to be easily grasped, or engaged by a key, for the purposeof ripping off the head from the can practically so close to the Wallsof the can-body that only a narrow thin fragment of the head remainsunited to the body, all as will be hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated thepreferred embodiment of the saine in the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, and in Which- Figure l is a perspectiveviewof a can enibodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionalview of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in bottom plan showing the manner offasteningthe permanent end of the ripping-Wire to the can-head. Fig. elis a perspective view illust-rating the operation of ripping the headfrom the body of the can. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view illustratingthe recess in the can-head and the hook-shaped end of the ripping-Wirefitted in said recess of the canhead.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denotelike parts in all the figures, A designates the body of the can orpackage, and B is the head thereof. The body is made in the ordinaryWay, and the head B is constructed with an annular bead l), which formsa groove c on the lower face of the head. This bead and groove are madeconcentric with the axis of the head and quite close up to the edges ofthe head, and said bead is made with parallel Walls or sides and deepenough to receive the upper edge oi the body A and the ripping-wire C.Said ripping-Wire is made of very thin but tenacious wire, and thegroove is so formed in the head B that when the head and ripping- Wireare assembled and applied to the body the upper edge of the body iitsinto the groove and the Wire rests directly upon the upper edge of thebody A, whereby the canbody assists in holding the ripping-Wire inplace.

The head B is made with a recess d, Which is formed by pressing orstamping the metal adjacent to the annular bead, and this rcn cess opensinto the annular groove c and extends inwardly froni the vannularflange, as shown by Figs. 3 and 5 of the drawings. One end of theripping-Wire is formed with a hook-shaped end, which is iitted in therecess d, on the under side or inner face oi' the ICO head B, as shownby Figs. 3 and 5, so that the inner or fixed end of the wire is securelyattached to the head B, and this fastening is effected without theemployment of solder or other fusible modes of attachment which areliable to give way when pull is exerted in the wire, but the other endof the wire is free and projects from the can, so that it can be graspedto rip off the cover, or it may be engaged by a key, as shown by Fig.4L, 'for the same purpose.

In the practical manufacture of cans in accordance with my invention Iuse heads B, which are of uniform thickness and strength throughouttheir whole area, and which are entirely free from lines of Weakness inorder to facilitate the operation of the ripping-wire.

The ripping-wire which I use is of very small diameter and is interposedbetween the bead and top edge of the can-body, so that the groove needonly be made slightly deeper than it is commonly made to receive thecan-body. By thus forming the bead and arranging the small ripping-wire,the size of the can is not appreciably increased by constructing it toaccommodate the wire, and the can has the same identical appearance asordinary cans which are not equipped with means for opening thehead. Theedge of the head is lapped over the can-body and is soldered thereto inthe usual way.

To open the can, it is only necessary to grasp the free end of theripping-wire and pull'it out to rip through the head along the line ofthe bead. I prefer, however, to provide a key D, to which the free endof the wire may be easily attached, and the key can be placed on thebead and turned over and over while it rides upon the bead, thus coilingthe wire on said key and causing the wire to rip or tear through thehead along the line of the bead.

It will be noted that the head is torn or severed immediately over thetop edge of the can-body and that only a fragment of the head remainsattached to said body, whereby nearly the entire head is torn off thecan, leaving practically clean-cut edges, so that the contents of thecan may be emptied very easily by a simple inversion of the can. The

key rides upon the bead in advance of the point where the wire ripsthrough the head,

and as the head rests upon the wire and the wire in turn rests on thetop edge of the can a firm support is provided for the key as it isrotated to coil the wire thereon.

Gans made in accordance with my invention can be manufactured forafraction above the cost of ordinary cans, as I have found that the costwill be about one cent per dozen over the cost of ordinary cans.

I attach importance to the construction of the flanged head with araised bead and with an inwardly-extending recess which opens into thegroove formed by the bead, a rippingwire adapted to the groove of thebead and having ahook-shaped end fitted in the recess of the head, so asto be held thereby, and its I other end passing inwardly through theinner wall of the bead, and a can-body with its edge fitted in the beadin position for the ripping-wire to be seated on said edge and for theflanged head to be united thereto. )Iy improved construction enables meto assemble the ripping-wire and attach it to the head before thecan-body is attached to the flange of the head. The head is first struckup, in suitable dies, to produce the flange, the bead, and the recess,after which the ripping-wire is fitted and attached to the head, and thecanbody is then fitted to the bead and ripping wire, so that the iiangeof the head and the canbody may be united together.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a can orpackage, the head struck up from a single piece of metal andprovided with circumferential bead and fiange and with aninwardly-extending recess which opens into said bead, combined with aripping-wire fitted in said bead and having a hook-shaped end which isheld in said recess and with its other end passed through the wall ofthe bead, and a can-body seated in the bead, against the ripping-wiretherein, and united with the flange of the head, as and for the purposesdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 4presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT F. REMY, Vitnesses:

J. C. LASER, JUNE HALL,

ICO

